jimmycricket Hi Thom. It's an immense privilege to even ask you a question. (Grovel, grovel). I've got a three-part query:1. Do you ever think there is a chance of peace and harmony in the world? 2) How much, on a scale of your choosing (I hate to ring-fence you with the passé one to 10 format!) does it piss you off that people think you are miserable, and constantly whine that you didn't release OK Computer-but-a-bit-different instead of your last three albums? and finally3. I've got some overdue library books, about three months overdue in fact, and I can't afford the fine. What do you suggest?All the best. James.

ThomYorke get doon on your knees boy 1. yes. I am also entering miss world 2. I LEAVE IT TO other people to fulfil those obligations 3. walk into the library, leave them on the table, walk out

shamesvoyce Hello Thom, Were you disappointed not to be invited to 'do a Nigella' and serenade the Thief-in-Chief on his arrival? I'm looking forward to seeing you at the Point in Dublin in a few weeks' time. Any chance of playing Pearly or Bullet Proof on the 4th? Cheers!

ThomYorke I could have fucking cooked for him!

zeroPEAN Hi Thom, Please shut up and sing. No one wants to hear some stupid rich rock star complain about the evils of capitalism.

CharlesBarrett Thom, In light of recent American policies in the Middle East and, indeed, around the world, would you be willing to cancel all tours and concert dates in the United States in protest of the current American imperialism? Does Radiohead stand by its anticorporate message or has it become the latest product line for droves of American consumers? No decent individual should conduct business with an American in today's world.

ThomYorkeYou have a problem with America. And everything connected with it. perhaps? I DO NOT. I have a problem with its current administration. we have to make a straight choice between building a bunker and staying in it or putting our little hard hats on and getting our hands dirty.

Brahmpur Thom: The remit of a successful artist has gone beyond charts positions quite tangibly in the last five years. What are you going to do? Charles Frith, Hong Kong

ThomYorke Would you mind telling the shareholders that?

happywithlife Thom, in your politics you are as abrasive a commentator as the world needs in 2003, but what do you think of others, like Michael Moore? Does he help the anti-Bush cause, or is he shooting the anti-War campaign in the foot? Thank you.

ThomYorke I think he's a very brave man. I heard a rumour that the boos were dubbed on louder. Much louder at the Oscars actually the room was deafening cheers. His new book's great and he's even more angry than I am ...

JC1967Hello I was the drummer in unlamented early 90s indie also-rans Blab Happy. We supported you for a few dates on the Pablo Honey tour, as you'll no doubt not recall. I am now fat, balding and dull. And yet if you acknowledge the Blabs in some small way, I'll be able to show off in the most shameless fashion for an hour or two. What a curious thing fame is, eh? Anyway, that wasn't much of a question. So here's three slightly less worse ones: 1. Your hardcore fans tend to be cloying and precious. Doesn't that get on your tits? 2. Even just a teeny bit? 3. Smash Hits poser: Who'd play your fantasy festival? Aside from the Blabs, naturally.

ThomYorke 1. I don't find them like that any more. That makes me quite lucky, generally. 2. There are other things that get more on my tits. 3. Kraftwerk. The Pixies. Talking Heads.

kristianp Hi Thom! Why is it called the gigantic lying mouth, will there be anymore singles from HTTT after 2+2=5 and do you know where I could get a replica bagpuss from? Thank you Kristian.

ThomYorkeIt's after a John Heartfield collage. He was a German artist in the 30s and 40s he changed his name to disown himself from the rise of the Reich in Germany. It is a title of one of his collage paintings which were all cut up, subverted propaganda from the Third Reich.

Petr Hi Thom, I would like to thank for your work with Radiohead, for your passion in music for all the years. I am fan since Street Spirit came out. My questions: 1. Will Radiohead release this 4 Episodes from Radiohead.tv on DVD? 2. Are you planning to release concert DVD from this tour? Thanks, have a nice day Petr Herudek, Prague, Czech Republic P.S. How about concert in Prague?

ThomYorkeFunny you should say that, what a great idea! How does April suit you? As well as this, we're thinking about a more convoluted exploration on the medium after intense market research with selected focus groups to optimise our sales potential.

DonlevyThom: Is it true that you've now served your time with EMI and if so what are the bands plans for the future? Own record label? Re-sign? Rob Donlevy

ThomYorkeNow is a good time to step away from the precipice. It's all looking a bit like a Warner Brothers cartoon when the character walks of the cliff , carries on walking and then eventually starts to look down. And then waves bye bye. In a sad kind of way - got that?

Adam624Thom, Hope you're well. I have two things to ask... Firstly, I've always felt there's a strong vein of wry humour in your music. This seems to get overlooked quite a lot. What makes you laugh? Secondly, is the audio-visual thing something you'd like to pursue more in the future? Do you prefer working on projects like this to the more traditional route of recording albums? Thanks for your time.

ThomYorke That's me wry it makes me laugh anyway, but then I'm one of those people who laughs out loud in the street, which I find is an exceptionally good way of discouraging people from coming up to you. I would prefer to have more time and work with people closer who I get to know rather than having to trawl through tapes sent in. Not that I did, of course. That was Dilly Gent's thing. so what did we do? Lots of little odd bits of music and then Chris Bran pasted it all together and invented Chieftan Mews. And thus a star was born

HavanaBallHi Thom, I remember reading once (can't remember where) that you said there was one track in particular on OK Computer that you hated/couldn't listen to. But you didn't say which, and now it really bugs me every time I listen to the album! Would you mind telling me which track it is, and possibly why? (I have a feeling it's probably going to be my favourite one...) Ta v much for putting me out of my misery! x

ThomYorke I can't say. You'll tell me off again (aaaah!)

question via email from Jean Hi Thom, Here are my questions (nothing to do with Radiohead.tv, which is great, sorry): 1. What are the gigs you remember the most over Radiohead´s lifetime 2. Do you sometimes change the set list during the gig and offer the audience some "gifts" (eg : B-sides, True Love Waits, Creep), or is it all decided before, and if so, how do you decide that venue would deserve some rare songs and that one not. 3. The whole radiohead.tv project must be pretty costly to run, do you have unlimited funds by Capitol? How is the balance of powers in elaborating the programme between you and Capitol ? Thanks for everything, hope to hear True love waits & How can you be sure in a gig one of these days. Jean

ThomYorke I have trouble remembering most things ... its quite scary yes we sometimes change the set list - occasionally you get people that think they're being clever by asking for obscure stuff that they know we won't remember or haven't finished yet ... in the old days of record companies they used to throw money at you. Not no more.

Question via email from Nick Russell Hi Thom! I am giving away my gig flower this coming Saturday, to see you play in Nottingham. Firstly, I'll get all the prefabricated homogenised hoohah out the way first, by saying that you're one hell of a band.My first question to you good sir is, out of pure curiosity - why choose the Asian Dub Foundation as a support act? Admittedly I've not heard much of them, only that they made a song for the maketradefair CD, and are apparently quite drum-and-bass orientated. Is there any particular reasoning behind them? Finally, if you could play Creep on the 29th, that'd be great!)

ThomYorke Can you say that with your mouth full? Why ADF? Because Ed kept banging on about them then we saw them at a festival over the summer for a second time. We don't understand why they aren't huge in Britain.

YoshiHi Thom, Where I End and You Begin was the soundtrack to my pain the last six months or so, and apart from the ending, I think it's the most beautiful song you (and the band) has ever done. My QUESTION IS, what was the last piece of music that made you cry? And do you agree that music alone cannot bring you to tears, there has to be an event in your life that the music helps to bring into focus? Peace and good luck in all things, Y.Misdaq aka Yoshi

ThomYorke I'm so glad. Cut the end off and it's obviously a single. Most of Bob Dylan's John Wesley Harding.

UntitledThink carefully. When was the last time you laughed so hard you couldn't breathe? What prompted it?

ThomYorkeThat was Have I Got News For You with Bruce Forsyth presenting 'Play your Iraqi cards right' and WMD? - It would be nice to them, to see them...

penepenpHi Thom, How are you doing? Philip

ThomYorkeYeah yeah great. Whatever.

monicalba Hi Thom, I am interested to hear your views about "war on terrorism" and "terrorism on war against westerns". I think religion plays an important role in this mess...the bomb attacks are claimed in the name of their God (but the Koran doesn't actually say to do such things) and the western response was done in the name of freedom and with the American troops blessed by their God (but again the Bible doesn't say to do such things)! This is no giving people freedom and definitely we have the knowledge of what happened in the past cause "Holy wars" (there is no such thing as a holy war...these two words don't go together). If in the past the reason was the holy grave, now it is oil!! What do you think?

ThomYorkeYes. It's oil. It's running out you know. That and a backlog of interference in the Middle East to make sure non-democratic governments stayed in power to serve our interests. Which makes all this moral stuff at little sour to the taste.

Therethere Hi Thom, a simple question for you: how is born radiohead tv?

ThomYorke Someone told us they were going to rent some cable TV channels and we had the opportunity to fill it however we saw fit. Worryingly, this is what we came up with. Imagine giving us our own channel . Did it ever get played on TV? Fucked if I know.

mz9b0Thom, our question is: Now that you are flushed with cash, how will this change you ? We have been told that financial security also affects one's health - what effects have you noticed ? Many thanx

ThomYorke Security fence. One of those armed Cadillacs would be nice. Big dogs with sharp teeth. Maybe a robot ... I am awaiting a new liver on the black market. They don't come cheap you know.

LightscollideWhat were the two colours in your head? Have you been surprised by the number and quality of responses to sites like gigantic lying mouth and digital landfill? Also, is there a reason why Let Down is so rarely played live? is it a difficult song? I know it's cheeky to ask, but could you play it tomorrow in Manchester? Alternatively, like spinning plates or climbing up the walls ... pretty please? With a cherry on top, if you're partial to cherries.

ThomYorke Errr. Kind like of like purple. And kind of orange. Like a pink floyd backdrop.

decadentdonut Hello Thom, 1. Last week, George Soros donated £5m to a left wing organisation in America in an effort to prevent Bush winning the next election. Although rock stars don't generally make as much as financial speculators, Have you considered donating large sums of your own cash as a viable way of getting rid of Bush? 2. Do you like Donuts? If so, what's your favourite flavour? I like apple and cinammon. 3. Earl's Court next week. My drunken friend went on to the waste website and bought SEATED tickets. How do you see a band sitting down? Do you just have to stroke your chin and nod thoughtfully? I have to ask. Backstage passes? Go on.

ThomYorke I can't eat donuts.

ShaunC Hello Thom. Life as a the singer of a top British pop combo can´t be too bad, eh? So why all the misery-mongering? How about a couple of chirpier ditties to make us smile?

ThomYorkefuck off

elfouly You are a brave man if you are going to attempt an answer to even half the questions posted so far. To this rather large pile I now add mine. Won't get this chance again I guess. Although my PC is not technologically top of the pile, I did manage to catch snippets of your new project albeit the frame was pretty small. Which leads me to ask do you think that music is better left to the listener's, and your, imagination rather than attaching it to a visual medium? Unrelated fare now. How do you deal with musician's block? Not able to come up with anything new on the guitar or organ or synth, your fingers tracing the same routes and you're stuck in a rut. How do you get out of it? Does technology i.e. numerous musical gadgets and effects do the trick? How do you come to terms with the fact that everything you attempt has strings attached i.e. it is almost impossible to accomplish anything by pure means? No matter your most noble intentions the money-men somehow seem to always short-change you? And this doesn't just apply to you, this applies to everybody on the planet. In spite our best efforts, we always find ourselves in a position where we must conform to a power or money-fuelled agenda set by people who already have a lot of both and who you don't really want to deal with. But somehow you find your arms tied behind your back. It feels like it's rigged and there's no avoiding it unless you become a hermit. You have the added misfortune of having a higher profile and must face this dilemma in front of judgmental eyes that are in all honesty no different. As I said brave man. Just got to say that you are the only band I know of that manages to release an album that makes the one before it sound like the work of amateurs. To my knowledge, there is no other band or solo artist that has been able to release work that is a marked improvement on its predecessor five consecutive times! Good luck to you all in the future.

ThomYorke "Just got to say that you are the only band I know of that manages to release an album that makes the one before it sound like the work of amateurs." That's because we are amateurs. Whatever or whoever comes afterwards is professional. It's a joke, is it not?

militantpoetry Thom, what is your opinion on people who criticise you for writing such melancholy music when you supposedly had such comfortable upbringing?

ThomYorke Define comfortable

smashits Thom: Can you envisage a time in the future when there will be no more Radiohead? I would love you to carry on making music forever, but seeing as this is not going to happen I would like to be prepared for the day you will announce your split.

ThomYorke I don't really think that there would be a split as you call it. I've never really thought about it. At least not recently. ummmmmm who knows... anything could happen...look at Bill Berry .... its the future at the moment most of it seems very uncertain.. Good bye and take care love thom

GuardianTalkThom Yorke has now logged off. Thanks everyone for taking part, and thanks to Thom for coming online.

About this article

'Yes I am entering Miss World'

This article was published on
the Guardian website
at 11.20 EST on Friday 21 November 2003.
It was last modified at 11.20 EST on Tuesday 25 November 2003.
It was first published at 11.20 EST on Tuesday 25 November 2003.